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The Scores (out of 10)
- Overall Score: 6.87/10
- Rank: #10
- Versatility: 7.25
- Crud Performance: 5.75
- Playfulness: 6.25
- Responsiveness: 7.25
- Hard-Snow Integrity: 6.75
- Quickness: 7.5
- Stability at Speed: 7
- Carving: 7.75
- Flotation: 5.5
- Forgiveness: 6.75
The Specs
- Price: $800
- Lengths: 162, 170, 178, 186
- Dimensions: 120-90-110
- Radius: 18m (178cm)
- Level: Intermediate, Advanced
In a Nutshell
- Pros: Carving (#7), Quickness (#4)
- Cons: Flotation (#20), Playfulness (#17)
Tester Otto Gibbons wants to know: If you’re not going to the Olympics, why are you working so hard to make nice turns? He has a point—many of us are on skis that make us work much harder than we want or need to. The Dynastar M-Pro 90 is the fix for that.
After putting the M-Pro 90 through the paces at the gear test in Sun Valley, testers agreed that this skis strikes a great balance of performance and user-friendliness. That balance can be traced to this ski’s construction, a combination of a poplar wood core and Dynastar’s Titanal Rocket Frame, a Titanal layer fine-tuned to the geometry of the ski. As a result of this layup, the M-Pro 90 is a lightweight ski that nevertheless serves up dampness and power without adding any unnecessary weight. Testers loved this balance, saying it’s confidence-inspiring on groomers and hard snow, but not so beefy or stiff that you won’t have fun in softer snow and bumps. “It’s an all-mountain super-G ski with the versatility to ski soft bumps and crud,” said tester Nick Loomans.
See How the Dynastar M-Pro 90 Compares to Its Competition
Although the M-Pro 90 does just fine off-piste, the overall consensus was that they were best suited to less aggressive skiers that tend to spend the majority of their time on-piste or cruising mellower terrain off-trail. Tester Brady Newton recommends this ski to “solid skiers who don’t venture too far off trail.” More specifically, he thought this ski was best suited to spending 90 percent of the time on-piste, versus 10 percent off. Other testers tended to agree with Newton, with Chad Jocob, a race coach from New York, adding that “when it’s kept on trail, it can do anything you want it to if you put in the effort.” But even when you don’t put in the effort, this is not one of those skis that will punish you for the occasional sloppy mistakes, he added.
When you take the M-Pro 90 off trail, the ski feels less sure of itself in variable snow conditions. “It feels a little limited in variable terrain and doesn’t have enough to it to ski aggressively off-piste,” noted tester Jon Sexauer. There was also some concern about this ski’s ability to track at higher speeds in crud, since the tip of the ski can become floppy and twitchy in heavier snow.
If skied less aggressively, the M-Pro 90 is versatile, quick edge to edge, and a proficient carver. In fact, this ski earned its highest scores in the Quickness and Carving departments, making it an attractive option for all-mountain skiers who want to explore beyond the manicured runs, but don’t want to sacrifice edge performance and agility in the process.
The only downside to this ski is that it’s easily overpowered by the hardest chargers out there. It doesn’t have a full sheet of metal, and because of that, it lacks the kind of stiffness and backbone that aggressive all-mountain skiers look for. But for skiers who are still working on their off-trail prowess, or for those looking to simply cruise on an easy-going ski that will do it all without asking for much in return, the M-Pro 90 is a great option. With this ski, Dynastar has built an all-mountain ski that is accessible for intermediates looking to venture beyond the groomed, but predominantly shines on-piste.
A self-proclaimed gear nerd when it comes to skis and mountain bikes, grew up skiing in Northern California, spending the majority of his time getting loose and sendy in terrain parks. He now lives in Colorado and calls Copper Mountain his home hill. Though he still gravitates towards playful and wide all-mountain skis, he’s developed a more open mind when it comes to skis since joining SKI’s official gear test crew five seasons ago. These days, you’ll find him ripping around Copper on his trusty Nordica Enforcer 100s.